Container or capsule for highly compressed fluid media



April 21, 1942. J. A. HONEGGER CONTAINER OR CAPSULE FOR HIGHLYCOMPRESSED FLUID MEDIA 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Fil ed March 1, 195a WMLMMM ATTORNEY April 1942- -J. A. HONEGGER CONTAINER QR CAPSULE FORHIGHLY COMPRESSED FLUID MEDIA Filed'March l, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Ill/l1 If! 4 x ii 0,0 4 7 m I I I I I n I INVENTOR ATTORNEY PatentedApr. 21', 1942 mass CONTAINER on CAPSULE Foa niGnLr COMPRESSED FLUIDMEDIA John A. Honegger, Bloomfield, N. J., assignor to SpecialtiesManufacturing Company, Inc., Bloomfield, N. J., a corporation ofDelaware Application March 1, 1938, Serial No. 193,253

6 Claims.

This invention relates to containers adapted to confine fluid mediaunder very high pressures over comparatively long periods of time.

More specifically the invention has reference -to closures for metalliccapsules designed to store compressed or liquefied gases such as areused for aerating or carbonating beverages. In commercial practice thesecapsules are often stored for long periods of time under widely varyingtemperature conditions and with the Figures 8 and 9 show still anothervariation of the closure principle of Figure 1, while Figure is a bottomplanview of the closure of Figure 8.

In Figure 1, the container or capsule l is formed with a neck portion 2counterbored at type of closure at present in general use have beensubject to appreciable leakage and sometimes total loss of the gascharge. .The usual method of closing these capsules has been to employ asimple form of metallic cap inserted into a counterbored open end of theneck of the capsule to rest on a shoulder formed therein, a rubberwasherbeing placed over the peripheral edge of the cap as a sealinggasket, and the end wall of the counterbored neck being bent over, aftercompletion of the filling operation, to compress the washer and hold thecap in place. In such a procedure, however, there are too many variablesto assure uniform leakage proof closing of the capsules, especially inview of the unpredictable shape into which the rubber washer would bepressed, the final shape and position of which is of prime importance inovercoming leakage of the high pressure fluid charge. This problem hasbeen solved by the present invention by controlling the pressure actingon the rubber washer and by providing a closure which definitelyconfines the washer'and compresses it from all sides.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a closure forhigh pressure medium containers. that is substantially leakage proof.,

Still. another object is to provide a closure that will result indefinite compressive confinement of the sealing means.

It is another object to provide a closure which is economical inmanufacture and application.

A still further object is to provide a closure which may be easilypierced to effect liberation of the medium thereby confined. r

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 shows in section the upperportion of a container or capsule, before being closed in accordancewith this invention; Figure 2 is the container of Figure 1 shown when ithas been closed; while Figures 3 and 4 show two types of washers thatmay be used with this type of closure.

Figures 5 and 6 show another form of closure before and after closing,while Figure '7 is a top View of the shoulder of the container of Figure5.

its upper end to form an internal shoulder 3, which supports a rubberwasher 'or gasket 4 carrying the inverted cap 5, which is, so to speak,held suspended on the washer by its flange 6, and which has a body partI of sufllcient length to extend into the neck of the container beyondthe shoulder 3, andof suiiicient thickness to properly withstand anypressure acting through the rubber as a consequence of a closingoperation, and to thereby confine the sealing washer, as will be shownlater. Figure 1 also represents the position of the elements during thefilling of the capsule, space being left between the various elements topermit the passage of gas during the filling operation, upon completionof which the capsule is closed by crimping the open end of the neck overthe flange 6 of the cap 5. The result of this operation is illustratedin Figure 2, the edge of the open neck having been crimped as shown at 8over the flange 6 of the inverted cap 5 to form an interlocking uniontherewith in direct metal to metal contact. The flange 6 is madesufliciently yieldable to conform to the inside of the crimped-over neckportion to achieve said interlocking union, as well as to prevent anygive" later on due to reactive pressure of the confined washer. Therubber gasket 4 is here seen to have been compressed to about half itsoriginal height, being compressively confined by the relativelynon-yieldable body part 1 and the neck in the horizontal plane; and bythe shoulder 3, the interlocked flange 6, and the crimped-over portion 8of the neck in the verticalplane; being thereby actuallytightly'*-conflnedl on all sides, and thus insuring a leakagesproo.-;'seal for the high pressure charge in the con iner. In fact thepressure of the fluid medium in the container even serves to improve theseal, as it acts to further compress the gasket.

Figure 4 illustrates a washer which may be used with the closure of thepresent invention, and which may be made from molded rubber havingserrations so as to thereby provide passages for the gas while thecontainer is being filled, with the closure assembled as shown inFigure 1. Figure 3 is another type of washer which may be used, havingradial gas passages on its top and bottom faces. There are, of

which would achieve the same effect. Passages in accordance with Figure3 are indicated on the washer 4 of Figure 1; as at 13.

Figures 5 and 6 show a variation of the closure illustrated in Figures 1and 2, in that the gas passages are here not provided in the washer 4,but rather in the formv of radial notches 9 made in the shoulder 3 ofthe capsule, as shown in detail in the plan view of the neck andshoulder in Figure '7. Upon crimping of the neck wall over the flange 6of the inverted cap 5, the washer 4 is compressed to such an extent thatthe notches in the shoulder are filled in, while otherwise the seal isthe same as that illustrated in Figures land 2. Another variation of theprinciple employed in this invention is provided by the design ofFigures 8 and 9. Here, the flange 8 of Figure 1 is obtained not byinversion of the body walls of the can but rather by a mushroomformation of the top of the cap as indicated at II, the cap neverthelessserving to confine the washer 4 from the top and sides as before. Here,however, there is another difierence in that the wall of the cap bodydoes not extend down beyond the shoulder but is so formed as to rest onit by means of a bottom flange II, which also serves to confine washer 4from the lower inside edge. The shoulder 3 confines the washer frombelow, as inthe examples before. In this construction the bottom flangeof the cap, which rests on the shoulder, has formed therein gas passagesin form of radially placed notches l2 as can be more clearly seen inFigure 10, which is a view of the botto'fn flange I I. The washer herehas no gas passages, as is the case in the construction of Figure 1, butdue to its diametrical dimension permits gas to pass between the neckwall of the capsule and the washer through the notches in the bottomflange.

It may be added, in connection with each of the types of cipsure'capsshown, that the central top portion ofeeach' cap is coined or thinnedout so as'to facilitate piercing of the cap when discharge of theconfined gas is desired;

It will be\ noted that in each of the embodiments of the inventionillustrated, the closure cap is so constructed as to compressivelyconfine the sealing means from all sides in cooperation withi thejcontainer wall, upon the bending over of a portion of said containerwall to engage the cap and to compress the sealing means. With thisconstruction, the sealing means completely fills the space provided forit and seals every path of escape of the fluid, medium while theconfinement of the sealing material is such that an extrusion thereof isavoided and the fluid pressure in the container assists in rendering theseal more dense, and therefore better, without the possibility ofextrusion.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that I have provided animproved means to seal a high pressure fluid medium in a container ofthe typedescribed which is simple and eifective, providing as it does asubstantially leakage proof seal. Itwill be further seen that inventionaccomplishes the various objects pointed-client the beginn'ingof thisspecification. gFinally, while my invention resides in cerprinciples of,construction and operation hi'c'h ave been" illustrated and describedin nnection with the accompanying drawings, it i apparent to thoseskilled in the art that he inveritioinmay be embodied in other formsconstruction witi flut departing in any manher from the spirit and scopeof the invention. and I therefore do not wish to be strictly limited tothe disclosure, but rather to the scope of the appended claims.

I claim: V

1. In a container for holding a highly compressed fluid medium having apliable neck formed with an inwardly projecting shoulder having radialrecesses, sealing means having a central opening adapted to seat on saidshoulder, closure means having a body disposed in said opening extendinginto the container beyond said shoulder and adapted to be pierced whenliberation of the fluid medium is desired; fluid medium conducting meansleading into, the container comprising in cooperation said neck, saidrecesses in said shoulder and portions of said sealing means; 'andsupporting means for said closure means comprising a flange thereonadapted to rest on the sealing means; a portion of said neck being bentinwardly to interlock with said flange upon deformation thereof, andsaid sealing means' thereby being compressibly confined between theshoulder and the flange sure member in said recess, a relativelynonyielding body portion of said closure member extending through thesealing member to apoint immediately adjacent said shoulder adapted tosubstantially prevent the cold-flow" of the sealing member toward itscenter under pressure, and a relatively yleldable fiangeon said closuremember resting upon said sealing member, the thin-walled portion of thecontainer being crimped-over downwardly over said flange to deforminglyinterlock therewith, said flange being adapted totransmit to the sealingmember the compressive presslre due to the crimpingover of said neckportion, the coaction ofsaid I crimped neck portion, said body portion,said flange and said shoulder placing said sealing member undersubstantially uniform compressive confinement, the "cold-flow in anydirection of the section of the sealing member being substantiallyprevented thereby.

3. In a. container for holding a highly com pressed fluid medium havinga pliable neck 'formed with an inwardly projecting peripheral shoulder,sealing means having a central open- 1 ingv disposed in said neck andresting on said shoulder, closure means having a rigid body disposed insaid opening and projecting downinwardly to deformingly engage saidflange, and

'wardly substantially below said shoulder and closely adjacent the same,and"-a deformable flange on said closure means overlying said sealingmeans, a portion of said neck being bent said sealing reans therebybeing compressibly confined between the shoulder and the flange andbetween said body and neck and thereby prevented from being extruded.

4. In a container for holding a highly com-.

pressed fluid medium having a pliable neck formed with an inwardlyprojecting. shoulder, sealing means seated-on said shoulder having acentral opening and radial recesses on at least its'seating edge,closure means having a body disposed insaid opening extending into thecontainer beyond said shoulder and closely adjacent the same and adaptedto be pierced when liberation of the fluid medium is desired, fluidmedium conducting means leading into the container comprising incooperation said recesses in the sealing means, said neck and portionsof said shoulder and sealing means, and supporting means for saidclosure means comprising a deformable flange thereon resting on thesealing means, a portion of said neck adapted to be bent inwardly tointerlock with said flange upon deformation thereof, whereby saidsealing means is adapted to be compressibly confined between theshoulder and the flange and between said body and neck and atight'clos'ure for the container is formed.

5. Ina container for holding a highly compressed fluid medium having apliable neck formed with an annular recess and an inwardly projectingperipheral shoulder-formed thereby, an annular sealing member disposedin said recess above said shoulder and having a central opening thereinsubstantially the same as the shoulder, an imperforate closure memberfor said container disposed within said neck cen trally of the openingand having a central perforable portion substantially on a level withthe upper edge of said container, a flange-like peripheral formation onsaid closure member overlying said sealing member substantially on a thecentral portion thereof and within the opening of the sealing member toa point closely adjacent the inner edge of the shoulder to laterallyretain said sealing member, a portion of said neck being bent inwardlyto engage said flange which, in coaction with the shoulder, the neck andsaid skirt, forms compressive confining means for said sealing member,thereby effecting a tight seal. I

6. In a container for holding a highly compressed fluid medium having apliable neck formed with an annular recess and an inwardly projectingperipheral shoulder formed thereby, an annular sealing member disposedin said recess above said shoulder and having a central opening thereinsubstantially the same as the shoulder, an imperforate closure memberfor said container disposed within said neck centrally of the openingand having a central perforable portion, a flange-like peripheralformation on said closure member overlying said seal-' ing memberadapted to contact and to retain said sealing member from above, andskirt means integral with the closure member and extendingdownwardly'from the central portion thereof and within the opening ofthe sealing member to a point closely adjacent the inner edge of theshoulder to laterally retain said sealing member, a portion of said neckbeing bent inwardly to engage said flange which in coaction with theshoulder, the neck and said skirt, forms compressive confining means forsaid sealing member, thereby effecting a tight seal.

JOHN A. HONEGGER.

